After a slow start to the offseason baseball fans have been gifted a flurry of moves over the past few days. Juan Soto mega-deal not withstanding there has been a ton of money handed out, and more is expected to follow as the Winter Meetings continue including to some notable former and future Atlanta Braves players.
Pitchers in particular have been landing contracts greater than their early offseason projections. One of the big three free agent starters, Blake Snell signed with the Dodgers earlier this winter. That leaves Corbin Burnes and former Brave, Max Fried as the other two starters expected to command big deals.
Fried has garnered a ton of interest from American League East teams, but now he's drawing interest from a hopeful west coast contender in the Giants.
Giants could continue to spend and getting Fried would make them a serious threat
Because the Dodgers seem intent on signing everyone and already have a core of World Series winning players, catching up to them in the NL West feels like a tall task for the other four clubs.
However, that doesn't seem to be stopping the San Francisco Giants from attempting to at least push L.A. in 2025. New front office man Buster Posey handed out the largest contract in Giants history to Willy Adames just a few days ago, and now Buster Olney is linking the Braves LHP Max Fried to San Francisco.
As we move forward in free agency, one possible fit worth watching: Max Fried and the Giants. He's being evaluated by contenders in the northeast, too, but some execs wonder what his preference will be if it comes down to SF vs. NYY/Mets/Red Sox.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 9, 2024
Max Fried has always been rumored to potentially land on the West coast where he grew up, and the Giants spacious pitcher's park might be an attractive spot for Fried to spend the remainder of his career. Fried has pitched 24.1 innings in San Francisco in his career and allowed just seven earned runs.
Posey clearly has motivation to build a contending team for the organization he won three World Series' with, and the Giants could create a lethal one-two punch with Logan Webb and Max Fried. The only question is will San Francisco be able to outbid the motivated East cost teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, both of which who were ready to hand out a ton of money for Juan Soto. Neither of those teams may be ready to lose out on another top name, and that could spell trouble for Max Fried landing in San Francisco.